


Inevitable Consequences of Over-Zealous Enforcement of Mandatory Orcish Mortality

by MrProphet



Category: Orcs Must Die
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-22 13:53:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10698378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrProphet/pseuds/MrProphet





	Inevitable Consequences of Over-Zealous Enforcement of Mandatory Orcish Mortality

It was Ellie who first voiced the question that had been preying on them all, unspoken. "What are you going to do now, Nuala?"

Nuala looked up from her packing and pursed her lips. "There will always be a place for a good teacher," she said. "Knowledge is a gift that does not come from magic after all. I am sure that Stella will find it as easy to get by."

"Everyone needs a good blacksmith," Stella agreed.

Ellie pulled a face. "It's all right for some then."

Nuala looked sympathetic. "You'll be all right," she assured her. "You're the most powerful of us."

With a bitter laugh, Ellie wave a hand in an arcane pattern and watched as a few sparks drifted lazily to the floor. "Maybe once, but the magic has gone out of my career path. Literally. The Enchanters are in the same boat," she added. "Let's face it; the Order was our meal ticket and victory has closed the kitchen." She snapped her fingers, producing another uninspiring flurry of rather sad sparks. "Maybe I  _should_  stick with the War Mage."

Stella gave a snort and flung her hammer heavily into her trunk. "He asked you too, did he?"

"Asked me...?" Ellie's face hardened. "Oh, the little creep!" They both turned to face Nuala, who shrugged.

"Were there any of the Weavers he didn't hit on before the Rifts closed?" she asked. "If the world should be grateful to the orcs for anything, it's that they kept  _him_  off the streets and out of the taverns as long as they did."

Stella cackled with laughter. "You think they kept him out of the taverns?"

"Relatively speaking." Nuala sighed. "Do  _any_  of us know anything other than Weaving?"

Ellie shrugged. "I was recruited as a child," she admitted. "I trained under the Grandmistress of the Elemental Weavers herself from the age of nine," she added, but declined to continue that story when she noticed her colleagues mimicking her words in silence. She gave a sniff and addressed herself to her packing, acutely aware that her skillset was the least suited to the outside world. Like the men and women who had been abandoning the Hall of Enchantment for the past week, the loss of magic had left her borderline unemployable and only lucky to still be young; it was a small consolation for no longer being powerful.

"I was a graduate entry," Nuala admitted. "It seemed like a much better option than tutoring royal brats. I'd have liked to try out for full-fledged Order Mage, but you have to start earlier."

"I could have been a Mage," Ellie piped up. "But I don't do well with the actual application of violence. Probably for the best, seeing as how they all died and everything."

They turned to Stella then. "I was brought up by the Order, but I was never any good with magic. Give me metal and wood and solid, tangible things any day. Is the world safe?" she asked.

"Never was before I joined the Order," Nuala replied.

"I was just thinking; I could sell traps to people for protecting their homes."

Nuala raised an eyebrow. "Unlike the Order, your average homeowner is a little squeamish of the effects of a wall full of spinning blades. It's not what they want to find in the front hall after an attempted burglary."

"I could take the blades off; just hit the intruder with sticks," Stella suggested defensively.

"It's a tough world out there," Ellie noted. "At least Stella has a plan."

Nuala sighed again. "I was not prepared for this."

"I thought you'd decided the Order was finished months ago," Ellie noted.

"I did; I just thought I'd be able to take a few trinkets, sell my mystical skills. As it is..."

"As it is you've got looks and brains?" Ellie asked.

"And no-one ever hires a woman for her brains," Stella noted.

"Or her smithying," Nuala added bitterly. Stella just stuck her tongue out in response.

"Now, ladies," Ellie cautioned. "Let's not fight. We wouldn't want the Mage to think we're fighting over  _him_."

Stella shuddered. "I'll drink to that."

"Amen," Nuala chuckled. "And at least whatever the world has to throw at us, it won't have any apprentice mages in it."


End file.
